Dell XPS 3D Laptops
The 3D revolution is upon us. It seems impossible to buy the latest LCD and Plasma displays these days without such technology, so it was only a matter of time before a laptop featured a 3D display.
One of the first is from Dell, in the form of the Dell XPS 15 3D and XPS 17 3D, which have 15-inch and 17-inch displays respectively. Here we do a review of the 15-inch model.
For a high-end model, the case is mostly plastic and looks very average, especially compared to Apple’s MacBook Pro and iPad products. Also, the keyboard is average at best, without the more touch-sensitive keys, while the arrow keys and page up / down are tightly packed. Hopefully the money was spent on the laptop’s internals.
The XPS 15 3D comes with one of the new generation Sandy Bridge Intel Core i7-2820QM quad-core mobile processors running standard at 2.30GHz or 3.4GHz with Turbo Boost mode enabled.
Graphics power comes courtesy of Nvidia with a mobile GT 555M GPU that drives the 1080p capable display. The 15 “LED-backlit LCD screen operates on the all-important 120Hz refresh rate, which is crucial to support stereoscopic 3D in conjunction with the built-in IR transmitter. Unfortunately, no free Dell XPS 3D glasses are included with the Retail package, although aftermarket alternatives like Nvidia 3DVision glasses will work very well.
Most of the other aspects of the Dell XPS 3D are the standard fare for a laptop, with a 7200 RPM hard drive, 4GB of RAM, two USB 2.0 ports, two USB 3.0 ports, 802.11n wireless capability, a drive of Integrated Blu-ray disc and HDMI and mini-DisplayPort outputs. Nice to see the 3 USB ports included as standard, while the Blu-ray drive is arguably essential for a 3D movie and gaming machine. Despite this, it would be nice to see a free upgrade to the SSD drive instead of the outdated mechanical drive. The amount of RAM can be upgraded up to 12GB.
Of course, Windows 7 comes preloaded and overall performance is excellent. Even with all the eye-catchers on, everything works super fast and super slick. Load up on some of the latest graphics-intensive games, like Far Cry 2 and F1 2010, and while it’s very good for a laptop, it struggles to produce decent FPS rates in full-screen resolution. We found that reducing the settings a notch or two really helped provide smooth playback.
Dell XPS 3D Gaming
Load up some 3DVision-compatible games, and you’ll unfortunately run into even more trouble, with a corresponding larger drop in resolution often required to achieve playable frame rates. Despite this, it was still very good for a laptop that doesn’t claim to be a dedicated gaming machine. If you want mobile games free of hardware restrictions, an Alienware laptop (also from Dell) is what you want. Be careful though, you will need a lot more to pay for it!
Dell XPS 15 3D Movies
On a brighter note, playing Blu-ray 3D movies is a very impressive and enjoyable experience. The only problem we encountered was having to sit directly in front of the screen, as both 3D technology and LCD screen technology meant significant changes to both the 3D effect and color tones when viewed off-axis. The 15 “screen is obviously not the ideal size screen for an immersive 3D experience, but we assume that consumers would buy this model for its mobile 3D viewing properties and back it up with a more substantial screen real estate in the comfort of their own home. .
Dell XPS 3D audio quality
Laptops never seem to have the best speakers, but despite this, the audio quality was pretty good, with little distortion from the speakers and decent volume levels. Bass levels don’t hit thunderous lows, though you wouldn’t really expect it without a separate subwoofer box.
Resume
Overall, the Dell XPS 15 3D is a good all-around machine, free from major flaws. Although it is not a dedicated gaming machine like the Alienware products, it is sure to serve as a great introduction to the world of mobile 3D entertainment.